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"American Idol alums are split when it comes to Adam Lambert&amp;apos;s racy performance at the American Music Awards on Sunday.\r\n&amp;quot;I honestly had no problem with Adam&amp;apos;s AMA performance,&amp;quot; season 5 contestant Kevin Covais tells Usmagazine.com. &amp;quot;After watching him take risks on Idol, it was about what I expected. Despite being a bit risque, I don&amp;apos;t feel like it pushed the envelope that much further from what we normally see these days, especially on primetime television. I see no reason why he should be punished by ABC.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nAs a gay man, season 1&amp;apos;s Jim Verraros tells Us the performance meant a lot to him.\r\n&amp;quot;We need this, and we need him,&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;Verraros tells Us. &amp;quot;We need to have him out there - he&amp;apos;s a gay pop singer from America. But I am torn -- I just don&amp;apos;t know if I would have done that kind of performance for my first nationally televised show. I think had he done it at a more intimate club environment, it would have gone over a lot better.&amp;quot;\r\n&amp;#xA0;\r\nBut season 3&amp;apos;s Diana DeGarmo says Lambert shouldn&amp;apos;t be shocked at the harsh reaction. (About 1,500 people called in complaints; ABC&amp;apos;s Good Morning America also canceled Lambert&amp;apos;s Nov. 25 appearance because of his &amp;quot;controversial American Music Awards performance.&amp;quot;)\r\n\r\nSays DeGarmo, &amp;quot;When you take a big risk like that, you can&amp;apos;t be surprised when there are repercussions for your actions.&amp;quot;   If anything, it should help out his career.  &amp;quot;Plus, with all of the buzz around the performance, his sales shouldn&amp;apos;t suffer whatsoever,&amp;quot; she tells Us.\r\n\r\nCovais agrees.\r\n&amp;quot;I think the performance does more to help his cause than hurt it,&amp;quot; he tells Us. &amp;quot;He definitely has everyone&amp;apos;s attention.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nBut season 3&amp;apos;s Jon Peter Lewis says Lambert shouldn&amp;apos;t be calling his performance art.  &amp;quot;All this nonsense about Adam Lambert&amp;apos;s whole project being art is bogus,&amp;quot; he told Us. &amp;quot;That idea is absurd. It&amp;apos;s like calling Thomas Kinkade art. What a sham.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/idol-finalist-calls-adam-lambert-a-sham-20092411>